Single-channel video, black and white, sound 19:38 minutes
Joan Jonas uses and manipulates the attributes of the medium video to create a work that presents fragmentation, distortion and the reframing of the female identity and sexuality. Jonas uses a interruptive signal to create this “vertical roll” where the picture frame repeatedly rolls from top to bottom. This vertical rolling fragments the images of Jonas’ in the video creating a rapid effect. The fragmentation effect is enhanced with the inclusion of a monotonous clanking or smacking which is synchronized to the rhythmic rolling of the tape. The viewer sees images of a female body, either zoomed in or gradually losing focus. The female in Jonas’ work is in fact herself performing. In the performance she is wearing sexually provocative clothes including images of nudity. The rolling images focus mainly on close-up shots of the female body parts. The close-ups essentially make the viewer stare at her body parts. The suggestiveness of the images sets up the viewer to be a male as if presenting to the male what most men want to see in a woman today. The element of viewing women paired with the vertical rolling of the image expresses the unstable identity of today’s woman. In the full 20 minutes, Jonas is seen wearing two different masks, a headdress and a costume. The clothing and the female accessories Jonas chooses to wear and present in her work symbolize the figurative mask and costume women wear when going out in public. The background and setting of the video is a black background, which gives the viewer a sense of limited physical space. It is as though women or in this case Jonas is trapped in a closed space with little room to move. The way this video is presented in the relatively small square of the screen of a boxed TV also complements this element. Joan Jonas’ Vertical Roll creates a metaphorical reflection into women’s identity and the way they are viewed.
Scar Tissue is a conceptual modern film which uses two sets of images that is somewhat structured and reproduces the original event. However the two images are used in juxtaposition to not only reproduce the original event but to also undermine the original event. Su Friedrich uses two sets of images, women’s high heels in trotting around Manhattan and the midsections of men, mainly focusing on their hands and arms. The two sets consist of contrasting close up images that switch off frequently from on to the other. The visual message conveyed by the film is the different gendered body language of the two sexes. The film reproduces the event of women and men in the crowded Manhattan area. The viewer can distinguish even with the close shots of specific body parts, the environment in which the shots are taken. New York City and Manhattan especially, the Big Apple, is synonymous with the integration of people from varying ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. The film, shot in America’s most well known “melting pot” cities where settlers have flocked in dating before the American revolution, contrastingly presents an essential distance and difference between men and women. The women, walking gracefully on shaky heels and their slim silhouette shadows contrast with the more solid, secure visuals on the men’s torsos and folded arms.
The film’s conceptual idea of using two sets of images, together to present an environment relating to certain attributes, but together also undermine the environment it produces in its contrast and distance.
This video by Nikolay Luchkiv and Alexsander Shpakov contains the self-portrait of ones fear of dogs or perhaps animals. The video self reflects on the nakedness of the fear, and the fear of being ripped apart when in contact with animals. The ambiguous paper background displays uneasiness. The crumpling of the paper, as if though it can be thrown out for the next page explains
This video by Tomasz Laczny is a self-portrait of his immersion in summer. The sounds of the dogs, the crickets and the general summer vibes give the viewer an idea as though he is sitting in his garden. The stillness of his immersed and blurred out image of himself tells of his time spent in such a situation. I feel a sense of being lost in a summer setting. I am brought back to my garden in Vienna, enjoying the summer weather.
New Media Digital Art
Motion Projects
Conceptual Sentences Project
Self-Portrait Project
Writing Assignment 1
Vertical Roll
By Joan Jonas
1972
Single-channel video, black and white, sound 19:38 minutes
Joan Jonas uses and manipulates the attributes of the medium video to create a work that presents fragmentation, distortion and the reframing of the female identity and sexuality. Jonas uses a interruptive signal to create this “vertical roll” where the picture frame repeatedly rolls from top to bottom. This vertical rolling fragments the images of Jonas’ in the video creating a rapid effect. The fragmentation effect is enhanced with the inclusion of a monotonous clanking or smacking which is synchronized to the rhythmic rolling of the tape.
The viewer sees images of a female body, either zoomed in or gradually losing focus. The female in Jonas’ work is in fact herself performing. In the performance she is wearing sexually provocative clothes including images of nudity. The rolling images focus mainly on close-up shots of the female body parts. The close-ups essentially make the viewer stare at her body parts. The suggestiveness of the images sets up the viewer to be a male as if presenting to the male what most men want to see in a woman today. The element of viewing women paired with the vertical rolling of the image expresses the unstable identity of today’s woman. In the full 20 minutes, Jonas is seen wearing two different masks, a headdress and a costume. The clothing and the female accessories Jonas chooses to wear and present in her work symbolize the figurative mask and costume women wear when going out in public.
The background and setting of the video is a black background, which gives the viewer a sense of limited physical space. It is as though women or in this case Jonas is trapped in a closed space with little room to move. The way this video is presented in the relatively small square of the screen of a boxed TV also complements this element.
Joan Jonas’ Vertical Roll creates a metaphorical reflection into women’s identity and the way they are viewed.
Scar Tissue by Su Friedrich
http://www.ubu.com/film/freidrich_scar.html
Scar Tissue is a conceptual modern film which uses two sets of images that is somewhat structured and reproduces the original event. However the two images are used in juxtaposition to not only reproduce the original event but to also undermine the original event. Su Friedrich uses two sets of images, women’s high heels in trotting around Manhattan and the midsections of men, mainly focusing on their hands and arms. The two sets consist of contrasting close up images that switch off frequently from on to the other. The visual message conveyed by the film is the different gendered body language of the two sexes. The film reproduces the event of women and men in the crowded Manhattan area. The viewer can distinguish even with the close shots of specific body parts, the environment in which the shots are taken. New York City and Manhattan especially, the Big Apple, is synonymous with the integration of people from varying ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. The film, shot in America’s most well known “melting pot” cities where settlers have flocked in dating before the American revolution, contrastingly presents an essential distance and difference between men and women. The women, walking gracefully on shaky heels and their slim silhouette shadows contrast with the more solid, secure visuals on the men’s torsos and folded arms.
The film’s conceptual idea of using two sets of images, together to present an environment relating to certain attributes, but together also undermine the environment it produces in its contrast and distance.
Motion Self-Portrait Examples
http://www.videoart.net/home/Artists/VideoPage.cfm?Artist_ID=1717&ArtWork_ID=2322&Player_ID=2
This video by Nikolay Luchkiv and Alexsander Shpakov contains the self-portrait of ones fear of dogs or perhaps animals. The video self reflects on the nakedness of the fear, and the fear of being ripped apart when in contact with animals. The ambiguous paper background displays uneasiness. The crumpling of the paper, as if though it can be thrown out for the next page explains
http://www.videoart.net/home/Artists/VideoPage.cfm?Artist_ID=1031&ArtWork_ID=1139&Player_ID=2
This video by Tomasz Laczny is a self-portrait of his immersion in summer. The sounds of the dogs, the crickets and the general summer vibes give the viewer an idea as though he is sitting in his garden. The stillness of his immersed and blurred out image of himself tells of his time spent in such a situation. I feel a sense of being lost in a summer setting. I am brought back to my garden in Vienna, enjoying the summer weather.